A true Gentleman of All Trades understands how to communicate with other like-minded individuals, especially unnoticed. Secrecy, subtlety, and nuance are important key skills a gentleman will be able to use in public.
Pigpen is an interesting cipher, and one of the easiest to learn and to use.
"One of the most prevalent cipher variations"
Pigpen has been alluded to have been around for as long as time could tell, but according to historians, the most notable use of Pigpen was by the Freemasons. Using a cipher such as the one above (or by creating and using a variant only the sender and user are aware of), messages could be relayed from one another easily and securely. The cipher was apparently used in other means, such as by the Union prisoners in the American Civil War or by way of encrypting carrier pigeon in World War I. It presents itself as a somewhat stagnant, yet useful cipher.
As mentioned, a Gentleman of All Trades uses subtlety in their daily lives, and when one must mention something that should not (or is not necessarily wanted to be heard by other people), secret codes, dialects, and hand motions are used to convey the message.
"According to historians, the most notable use of Pigpen was by the Freemasons"
A useful endeavor that would include this would be relaying a message to a colleague that the manager of your establishment is going to announce random drug testing the night after you two plan on going to the bar. Possibly that your significant other is medically ill and you want to pass on the information to someone in public without anyone else batting an eye. Or, you wish to abuse the cipher and write everything in pigpen just to create the entropy and chaos you wish to observe. The choice is yours.
Remember, a Gentleman of All Trades uses Subtlety, has Charisma, and is Suave. Most importantly, a Gentleman of All Trades is humble.
If you would like to learn more about Pigpen and other ciphers as well as play around a bit, go to this online tool to learn and play with Pigpen: Crypto-Corner
